Hampton falls to 0-5 with 30-6 loss at S.C. State

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — When the punter is your top offensive threat, it's not a good day.

Failing to get into an offensive rhythm, Hampton lost its MEAC opener 30-6 at South Carolina State, falling to 0-5 for the first time in its Football Championship Subdivision history. Punter Christian Faber-Kinney's two fake punts were the most productive plays from scrimmage for the Pirates.

"This is our fifth game not winning, so the guys don't know what it feels like," Hampton coach Donovan Rose said. "Right now, we've just got to get momentum and get the guys to feel good about themselves."

With the Bulldogs (3-2, 1-0 MEAC) racking up 162 yards and three turnovers, the Hampton offense had plenty of chances it couldn't capitalize on because of its ongoing trouble on third down. The Pirates were 3-of-19 on third-down conversions against the Bulldogs, bringing their season percentage to 20.

"We've just got to try and work on getting more third-and-shorts," HU quarterback Jaylian Williamson said. "As an offense, we've got to come together and make plays."

The S.C. State turnovers and penalties kept Hampton in the game through the majority of the third quarter despite the Pirates' anemic offense. SCSU had more than twice as many penalty yards than Hampton had total offense in the first half, but with each Bulldogs blunder, the Pirates had one to follow it.

Hampton got into the red zone for the first time in the first half when the Bulldogs had a bad snap on a punt to give the Pirates possession at the SCSU 20-yard-line. But then Williamson fumbled it right back at the 8-yard-line, squandering the short-field opportunity to score.

When Hampton was able to fool the Bulldogs with a Faber-Kinney fake punt that morphed into a 37-yard run, the Pirates couldn't covert a third-and-five at the SCSU 13-yard-line, settling for a 31-yard field goal.

Trailing just 16-6 at that point in the third quarter, the Pirates then watched the Bulldogs gash the defense with the ground game, turning a close 10-point lead into a comfortable 17-point one. Despite SCSU being without its top rusher and leading scorer — Justin Taylor was out with a shoulder injury — the Bulldogs had 248 rushing yards.

"I saw a lot of missed tackles," Rose said. "A lot of plays we missed tackles and they turned them into big gains. You can't do that."

And just when Hampton was having one of its best drives of the game, marching 43 yards in four minutes, Williamson was intercepted by Darius Drummond at the SCSU 22-yard-line, running it back 78 yards to give the Bulldogs a 30-6 lead that was too much to overcome. Even with a second fake punt where Faber-Kinney threw a 32-yard pass, the offense averaged fewer than 3 yards per play.

The Pirates have the benefit of a bye week before hosting one of the MEAC's top teams in North Carolina A&T for homecoming. After five straight losses, a week where Hampton can't lose might be the confidence boost the Pirates need.

"My biggest thing is to make sure our guys keep their head up," Rose said. "It's kind of hard when you're 0-5."